June 29, 2014

Founded in 2013, Drama Club NYC is a nonprofit which provides theater arts education to imprisoned youth in New York. Drama Club’s programs, consisting of activities such as acting exercises and play-writing, are intended to assist in the rehabilitation of young prisoners. Through such programs, youth build much needed social skills and self-esteem, important factors in decreasing violence in a young person’s life.

Josie Whittlesey

Josie is the founder of Drama Club, and has worked with inmates at Sing Sing Correctional Facility, a maximum-security men’s prison, for three years with Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA). During her time at Sing Sing, she taught acting, public speaking, and comedy. She also acted alongside the men in full productions of A Few Good Men and Our Town. Josie is currently piloting and developing YEA (Youth Empowerment Through the Arts), the first RTA program outside of prison walls. Co-facilitating with an ex-offender and RTA alum, Josie is working with at-risk youth from Hour Children and Ravenswood Houses (NYCHA) in Queens to devise an original theater piece to be performed for the community. Over the last eight years she has taught at Fordham University, New York University, Monclair State University, Nassau Community College, Purchase College, SUNY and Larry Singer Studios. She holds an MFA from NYU’s Graduate Acting

Watch the WSJ Interview:

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